Chanania Steinmetz, a Chabad rabbi and a U.S. Air Force chaplain, had planned to spend Purim this year in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., where he grew up. Instead, he is headed to Fort Cavazos, about 70 miles north of Austin, Texas, to read the Megillah to “at least two” Jewish service members.
“Purim is a beautiful celebration in so many different communities, but in Crown Heights, it’s popping,” he told JNS. “Everyone’s doors are open and there’s just an endless amount of generosity and love.”
“People are on a spiritual high,” he said, and maybe “a little intoxicated.”
Steinmetz told JNS that he received dozens of invitations to Purim parties in Crown Heights this year, so it is nice to have an out and not have to choose.
“There are endless parties and gatherings, making it nearly impossible to decide where to go,” he said. “In previous years, I’d find myself debating how to spend those valuable few hours.”
“In a way, it’s a blessing to have so many invitations and know that I can’t possibly make it to all of them, because this year, I don’t have to think about it,” he said. “I already know exactly where I’ll be—in Texas on a military base.”
Steinmetz’s home base is Lackland Air Force Base in the San Antonio area, some 150 miles southwest of Fort Cavazos.
“Purim isn’t just about the celebrations, it is a deeply spiritual day,” he told JNS. “While it is a time of connection with family and friends, it’s important for me to help other Jews have the chance to experience the holiday on this level.”
The Aleph Institute, a Chabad-affiliated nonprofit based in Surfside, Fla., arranged for Steinmetz to travel to Fort Cavazos, which was formerly called Fort Hood and the site of mass shootings in 2009 and in 2014. It was also the target of a plot in 2011. (The 214,968-acre base was named Fort Cavazos on May 9, 2023, for Gen. Richard Edward Cavazos, the first Hispanic four-star general in the U.S. Army.)
After Steinmetz reads the Megillah to the service members on Thursday evening and Friday morning, the group will make a “L’chaim” on grape juice and not any alcoholic drink, per military regulations, he told JNS. He also hopes that the group will be larger than a trio.
He told JNS that Aleph plays a vital role in the lives of Jewish service members. One “stationed in the middle of Alaska might want to hear Megillah on Purim,” he said. “His chain of command may have never heard of Purim or Megillah, but he can reach out to Aleph for help.”
‘You’re a unicorn’
Steinmetz, who was commissioned as an Air Force chaplain in October 2023, hadn’t expected to join the military.
“I come from a Chabad family and attended Chabad yeshivahs, so the idea of shlichus,” serving as an emissary, and “being there for others and for the Jewish community as a whole was never foreign to me,” he told JNS.
Like many young Chabad men, he received rabbinic ordination but didn’t see himself traveling to another place to run a Chabad House and serve as a spiritual guide for a community. He ran an import-export business, but after the pandemic impacted that enterprise, he started learning more about becoming a Jewish chaplain.
“The military sees you as a chaplain first and a representative of your faith second,” he told JNS. “I am, of course, there for all Jewish service members but ultimately, my responsibility is to support everyone, regardless of their faith or background.”
“That idea has always spoken to me,” he said.
It helped that he loves travel, culture and connecting with people. “Being a ‘light unto the nations’ has always felt like a core part of who I am,” he said. “This work is both meaningful and inspiring.”
Being surrounded by Protestants, Catholics and other Christians, Steinmetz often feels like a minority within the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps. “Being someone there with a beard and a yarmulke, you stick out,” he told JNS. “Attention will come to you—hopefully, for good reasons.”
An airman recently told him, “You’re a unicorn,” Steinmetz told JNS. “I asked him why, and he explained. ‘I’ve been in the military for eight years, and I’ve heard that Jewish chaplains exist, but you’re the first one I’ve ever met.’”
“It’s an honor to meet you,” the man added, according to Steinmetz. “It’s a special feeling to know that you’re there to represent the Jewish people and make a difference.”
‘Energetic, positive and highly active’
As his chaplaincy continues, Steinmetz will interact with service members from all the branches of the military, which, he said, have distinctive “love languages” based on their cultures.
“You could be in the same industry, but working in different companies or entities can feel completely different—like working at Google is different from working at Facebook, even though they’re both social-media platforms,” he said.
“Marines are known for being extremely energetic, positive and highly active. Pilots, on the other hand, tend to be a bit more subdued, but even within that, it depends,” he said. “Are you talking about bomber pilots? Fighter pilots? Cargo pilots? Each has its own culture, terminology, and mindset.”
“It’s a whole different world, depending on the specific group you’re working with,” he said.
Earlier this month, Steinmetz attended the 18th Annual Aleph Military Symposium in Surfside, where he could feel temporarily like less of a unicorn. He told JNS that he connected with other military members to support his chaplaincy work.
“It was one of the most beautiful events I’ve ever attended,” he said, of seeing fellow Jews from all branches of the U.S. military come together and support one another warmly.
“Everyone was there to uplift and encourage each other,” he said. “I had the opportunity to interact with countless chaplains, who have far more experience than I do.”